About the YOKE Movement Foundation
YOKE is a Melbourne-based conscious dance community, fusing movement with live and electronic beats. The word YOKE is a Sanskrit term meaning ‘coming together’, forming union. Our workshops are about facilitating authentic connections to oneself and one other in a space completely free from judgments. We invite you to take the time to let go of the mind and drop into the body through ecstatic dance and movement. YOKE is a collaborative consciousness calling all individuals seeking to express intuitively and energize the soul.
YOKE was created in January 2016, with the mission of collective healing through movement and sound. Everything we do at YOKE mirrors coming together; forming oneness with our bodies, our soul purpose, with fellow Yokers, the rest of the world and cosmos. Yoke is something far greater than an ecstatic dance. It is a calling to come back to the ancient ways of song and dance. It is a wake up call to learn to listen to the rhythm of our bodies and synchronize our heartbeats to create real positive change in the world.
At YOKE we believe in oneness at the core of all existence. With the help of our resident DJs and musicians, who play a mixture of down tempo, deep house, techno, world and live sound healing, we will take you on a two-hour journey releasing the mind and opening the heart. From the moment you enter the space, your senses will be tantalized and you energy fields cleansed with the sacred scents of Frankincense, Sage and Palo Santo. We begin the journey with a tea brew made of carefully selected herbs to guide our journey in line with the particular theme and music. Prepare to enter a trance as together yet individually we flow from slinky stretching to high energy, ecstatic dancing. Always guided by your own body’s wisdom, the sacred space and music become a backing track to the deeper lessons that lie within ourselves when we truly let go. The night concludes with a grounding meditation and group sharing over some handcrafted organic dance-digestifs.
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Introducing the YOKE Crew:
Sanna
Director / Facilitator
Sanna Wittner is a movement facilitator, body worker and motivational up-lifter. Having danced from a small age, she has explored various styles of Hip Hop, Tap, Jazz, African, Funk, Electronic and Improvisational free flow. She has recently expanded her knowledge of the correlation between body and mind through a regular yoga meditation practice and ancient healing techniques. Her vision for Yoke was to create a safe space for like-minded bodies and souls to call home. One where each individual feels comfortable expressing themselves in their unique and wonderful ways. A place of acceptance and nurture, as well as a whole lot of fun and funkiness!
A general life lover and advocate of wholehearted living, Sanna is passionate about assisting others in realizing their own true potential and light. She is thankful for the opportunity to be a leader of today, and for the ongoing support received by the community in carrying out her soul’s purpose.
Maddy
Altar Priestess
Maddy is an advocate for body positivity and self-love. She was drawn to the path of healing a few years ago and is currently studying the ancient art of Chinese Herbal Medicine, acupuncture and Zen Shiatsu. Maddy is a lover of all things flowing and growing. That’s what drew her to Yoke – the raw opportunity to show up, shake it up and shake it out. She strongly embraces vulnerability, and for her, that is the essence of Yoke; accepting all of yourself, and then getting down with it to some quality beats. This is such a potent way to heal – through expression and release. She feels beyond blessed to be able to share her creativity each Yoke by birthing an Altar to assist you all in your process. For each Sacred Altar, Maddy connects to the season, Mother Nature’s flow and movements in the cosmos, to tune in to what needs to be honoured that evening. She draws inspiration from her surroundings, and believes that our inner world reflects our outer world and vice versa. Therefore each Altar is a manifestation of her inner world, and thus a reflection of each and every one of us.
Hannah
Photographer / Cinematographer
Han Marko is a cinematic creatrix whose camera skills become the most satisfied when capturing self expression, sexy lighting and humans in their raw form. From promo videos to portraits she’s all over it, an open minded artist is what she is – she’s even got her own lighter necklace biz.
Caitlin
Tea Brewer
Caitlin Priday is an old soul in a young woman’s body, who has been guided over the past five years into a variety of different healing modalities, initiations and space holding roles. Caitlin followed the path of the ‘wounded healer, on a mission to heal her innermost demons and depression. Ultimately it was her quest to heal the painful parts of herself that led her to many unique places and people all across the world. This journey has given her a direct, grounded and assertive essence to her work, holding space for transformation through presence rather than interference.
Caitlin has served with Sharon Bolt for four years in her energy work, space holding and ritual shamanic work, along with helping other practitioners in the field of women’s work and shamanic based practice. She has been in a space holding role for many different types of ceremony and is a very focused and dedicated server when it comes to any work that is used to expand the consciousness and healing of humanity. Caitlin runs her own holistic food business Mother Tree Creations and has partnered with Sharon on womb work in The Empress and the Dragon. Caitlin’s wish is to see the balance restored upon this planet and true health and wellness to be reignited with every human being.
Find out more about Mother Tree Creations on Caitlin’s website: https://www.mothertreecreations.com
Sophia Sin
Resident DJ
Sophia Sin’s musical travelogue has seen her embark upon a path of creative independence and optimistic expression that is reflected in the art she weaves, both in the studio and out on the dancefloor…gift-wrapping sumptuously-layered sounds which reflect her own voyage of artistic appreciation and digitally-enhanced discovery. She believes in many things but above all it has always been music.
She likes to keep a digital umbilical chord attached to the deep echoes of our primal nature as she mixes tribal tech with subtle bass grooves and soul capturing vocals. She believes beats in music can replicate our heartbeats, that rhythm is an institute for deeper inquisition and thus we must dance our questions to the answer. As each song chosen is the micro to the macro, Sophia offers a quest in each of her sets with a playful, primordial and quite precise selection of music.
Listen to Sophia’s music on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sophia-sin
Nuage
Resident DJ
The Nuage project is to inspire a rhythm of expression through the music. Designed specifically for the YOKE community, Nuage creates energetic waves and impulses through intelligent mixing and merging of genres, from downtempo to upbeat, internal to external. The music is carefully selected to engage all parts of the body in a dynamic free flow where dancer and musician co-create and unify the sounds through expression.
The mixing allows space for the creation of the dancer to unfold. His intention is for you to create your own story through the movement exploring the theme of the night, guided by the music. His eclectic collection of songs weave together to create an electric journey offering multiple directions for the mover.
Listen to Nuage’s music on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nuage-aus
Moontide
Resident DJ
Moontide is a project born in the mountains of Colombia, drawing from the vibrant culture of the Andes. The Moontide hybrid live set is designed to take listeners on a journey, encompassing live sampling and instrumentation as well as spoken word. The undercurrent of water has been a recurring theme for his productions as a motif for collective healing of the planet and soul.
The Moontide project has been exclusively showcased at notable events in Australia including Rainbow Serpent, Tanglewood, Rancho Relaxo and the Yoke Conscious Dance Party. Moontide’s main influences include Nicolas Jaar, Bonobo, Dhafer Youssef, Stavroz and Nicola Cruz. His music appears on Beat & Path, Moon by Day as well as Lump Records.
From the love and attention to detail that is poured into every element of his sets, the Moontide experience continues to expand with the intention of unifying listeners, heart to heart, soul to soul. Currently travelling and performing in Central America, Louis is excited to return back to his home soil in Australia with some fresh new exotic sounds to share.
Listen to Moontide’s music on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/moontideaus
Dale Cohen
Sound Engineer
Dale has a deep passion for sound, first starting as a DJ performing at a variety of clubs and private functions across Melbourne, then entering the audio visual industry. Dale has been fortunate to work in sound within a variety of fields from production, theatre, live bands and corporate where he managed the audio visual department for a large consulting firm.
More recently Dale has branched off from fulltime work to build up his own company, Play On Sound & Lighting.
Mudge
Sound Healer & Website Designer
Mudge has a deep respect for sacred spaces and women’s empowerment, so he feels at home with the YOKE crew. He has supported Sanna to take YOKE to the next level by helping her set up a Foundation and building this website.
Mudge is a multi-instrumentalist with two different music projects happening, both featuring his soulfully emotive baritone voice: Santa Estrela is his sacred acoustic project, in which he authentically transmits sacred and shamanic songs from indigenous cultures, ancient religions and contemporary spiritual traditions. Mudge FM is his fat electronic dance music project with electric guitars and analog synthesisers, currently being constructed in his studio…